The Eyes of Medusa
by Tigerdust
Summary: Series 4, Episode 12. What I think should happen. Joins DW, TW, Martha, and the SJA together. Blended, a fun read. I own plot tiny parts but no characters. And, if you are wondering, yes Jack and Ianto won't be dying.
1. Chapter 1

The Medusa Cascade is known as the brightest star in the universe. It's roughly the size of a white dwarf, but is about as dangerous as Jack after a cup of Ianto's coffee. Don't stare at me, Jack, you know it's true. From what I've seen.

My name is Lisa Hallett and I am supposedly dead. Well, twice actually if you count Canary Wharf. I've been charged with writing the events as a sort of memorial to all the people involved. At least in Cardiff, this could be seen easily as the End. Or maybe it really was the beginning.

Donna sat, her legs reclined over the abyss of the catwalk. The grate was cold under her feet despite the Tardis being bathed in red light. She found it odd. She only ever remembered the Tardis being bathed in yellow, or green occasionally. These minute things had so much significance it made her head spin. The Doctor hadn't paid much attention to her as he was trying to concentrate on various settings.

"So, where are we going?"

The Doctor looked from his terminal and just kind of stared at her. "I was hoping you'd tell me."

"What do you mean? You don't know where we are going?"

"Well, it's not like Bad Wolf leaves exact directions, does it?!" Donna curled her lips.

"Look, it's been a really long day and clearly we are both upset! Let's not say things we'll both regret!"

"Well that never stopped you before!" The Doctor snarled back at his latest companion, only vaguely aware that he was sorry. His blood was hot and pumping, the wound of Rose's predicament scabbed over. And this new information left it raw.

He couldn't lie. Bitterness had seeped into his brilliance. Every regeneration there were companions loved and lost. But Rose had been more special than any of them. She had seen the world as he had, just briefly. She had come back to him. She had loved him. And he had, well, that didn't matter now.

But where to then?

It was a late night in Cardiff. The kind of night where Jack would perch himself above the cold of the street, wrapped in his greatcoat, and just breath. He'd watch the air form a mist around him and he'd think back to that cigarette that night after he met Estelle. He'd think of the steam that rose from the train yards when he had met the Doctor. He'd do anything to think of the present.

Ianto usually didn't disturb Jack in these moments. His own knowing and politeness of the man kept his reserve up, except in those rare uninhibited moments of invited passion. It was then Jack liked to watch the changes flicker over his face. The struggle for dominance, the leadership abilities, the overwhelming fire that smoldered within. The fire that Jack was sure he hid. Jack smiled; Lisa must have seen it too. It was hard not to see if you loved him enough.

"Jack. You'd best come down. It's freezing."

"Come join me, Gwen!"

Her arms were folded and she was wearing a dark, thin leather jacket. The kind of thing that looked great on models and wind-blown days but was hell to get alien blood removed from. Well, that is unless you were Ianto.

"Normally, I'd love to, but it's late and well..."

"Go home, Gwen. The Rift's been kind to us. Maybe it's mourning too. I'll see you in the morning."

"Right." She lowered her head. "I'll have Rhys drive me home, then."

"Tell him thanks. I haven't told him thanks myself yet."

Jack's head turned away as she moved back towards the ladder. "I will, Jack. I will. Ianto says he'll have coffee waiting for you when you come down." Jack smiled at the thought, waited five minutes, and then moved back to the area Gwen had been standing at.

There was a moment in Sarah Jane's mind where she wasn't quite dreaming, but she wasn't awake. It was the foggy place between memory, perception, and seeing the future. It had been happening more recently. Each week, she would awake, sweating. There was a redhead involved and a man in a suit. He had a sonic screwdriver. It wasn't her Doctor. But she knew by the eyes and the babbling that it was the Doctor.

She brewed herself a cup of tea and looked across the street. The kids were up. Her junior detectives were still awake. The blinking light next to her oven announced that it was two in the morning and she wondered why exactly they were having trouble sleeping. She entered her special room.

"Is anything wrong?" His voice, it always calmed her and gave her a cooler head.

"No. I just thought maybe we'd talk."

"About what?"

"I couldn't sleep." Normally, she didn't want to admit she needed him. There was no need for sentiment like that in their relationship. They'd seen and done too much together. She'd lived now with this facsimile quite happily. Happily might not have been the right word.

"Is a scan in order?"

"Maybe it is. Doctor, did you ever have trouble sleeping?"

The monitor beeped for a second. "My sleep cycles always differed from yours. You know that."

"Yes, you told me. But you did sleep. Did you ever dream? Of the future?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

Three in the morning. Three in the bloody morning. Why did the world always seem to end at three in the bloody morning?

"Don't answer it." Tom groaned. He shifted in bed and noticed that the area where Martha Jones usually lain was cold and that a light was on. He blinked a few times and propped himself on his elbows, begrudgingly. "Well, if you're going to answer it. It had better be important."

"I don't know. I think I need to call the Doctor."

"Are you ill? Is it the baby?" Tom's eyes went wide and he began searching for his pants.

"No, not our doctor. The Doctor."

Tom's pants were being zipped up and he moved to join her. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure exactly. Sorry if I woke you."

"No problem. You save the world. The least I can do is sacrifice a bit of sleep." Martha smiled at Tom sweetly and switched the connection from her phone to laptop. Tom watched the feed while the moon billowed behind the curtain. "What am I looking at then?"

"Readings. From Glasgow."

Tom adjusted his glasses. "Those look like the spikes..."

"I know. From the Rift in Cardiff. Something is happening, Tom. And I'm not sure what."

"Think it's a reaction to Abaddon?"

"I don't know. But the Doctor must have some clue. Maybe it's nothing. Am I worried for nothing?"

"What does your gut tell you, then?"

"It's not the end of the world, but it might be important."

Tom reached for her forehead and kissed it. "Call your Doctor if you need to. I'll make some cocoa."


	2. Chapter 2

The levers moved under his tight grip. His cheeks were taut from lack of his normal sleeping patterns. He had thought, he had paced. Donna had gone to bed, finally annoyed enough with the red light and silence. The Doctor's mind was blank for most of the time Donna was gone. Which he was grateful for simply because she'd never let him forget it if she knew.

He thought of Rose in those precious few hours Donna wasn't awake, around, and somewhat annoying him. Truth was, it was nice to have an older companion who knew what she wanted again. It made life simpler for him. Younger companions were bubblier and generally could run faster and farther, but her wisdom and her charging attitude gave him a sounding board and he was quite proud of himself for choosing her. The Doctor crossed his arms. And it had been all Rose's fault.

"Doctor? What about Bad Wolf Bay?"

He turned and looked over his glasses at Donna. "What about Bad Wolf Bay?"

"That's the only place I can think of where I've seen Bad Wolf mentioned. Could she be in Norway?"

"Rose...no, I don't think so. She was a Londoner."

"Was that her name?"

"Yeah. Rose Tyler. Fantastic girl, opinionated, nice laugh. You'd have gotten along with her before I lost her. You nearly met her too."

"I did?"

"You came on board the first time right in the middle of our message."

Donna moved closer and put her hand on his arm, squeezing gently. "I'm sorry." For the first time, the Doctor seemed smaller to her. Smaller and in immense pain.

"No. Nothing to be sorry of. Well, I suppose we'd best be going then."

"Where?"

"Bad Wolf Bay. I told you that you'd come up with something." Donna gazed through his half-hearted attempts to smile before he turned back towards the console.

Gwen and Rhys were in the midst of a Weevil hunt which gave Jack and Ianto the morning together. It was odd, resounding silence in the Hub. Gwen made effort to keep cases rolling through. Jack suspected that she didn't want to think too clearly about past events. Torchwood was getting to her, her sentimentality being drowned out by the work itself. It was worrying and slightly maturing at the same time.

Ianto did tend to keep his opinions to himself. Except for one vocal match with Jack over Rhys taking the tourist office; he'd been able to adapt to change. Jack suspected the worse simply because of what had happened with Lisa. Granted, Ianto had matured in leaps and bounds, but there was still that catalyst inside of him. It worried Jack, the way he could shut everything out. It was a scary talent that could possess the young Welshman if he wasn't careful. Although, some days Jack wished for it himself.

The two sat in the board room, eating omelettes with great relish. It was rare and should have been savored, breakfast together, but neither had much of a chance to eat in the past two days. Ianto had been showing prowess learning Tosh's computer systems, the job of learning medicine was too gross for him. Although, Jack mused, he'd never actually voiced that. It had just been decided he'd take Tosh's place at the computer.

Of course, it was running too smoothly for Torchwood. The alarm and Myfanwy shrieked in tandem as Rhys and Gwen maneuvered through the Hub with a sedated weevil and a large black trash bag. Ianto questioned what was in the bag and Jack's head moved to get a better view.

"Don't bother getting up gentlemen. We have it all under control!" Rhys voice moved down to the cells with the weevil growling in tow. Gwen moved toward them with the black trash bag.

"I've been keeping order. There's no need to bring your own trash bags."

Gwen's eyebrow crooked at the corner. "Having a good breakfast, gentlemen?"

With an unceremonious plop, something squishy landed on the table next to Ianto's toast. It must have weighed nearly twenty pounds. Ianto shrugged and went back to eating. "Wouldn't want to waste breakfast, now would we?"

Jack peeked into the black trash bag and sat down again just as quick. Between bites he ascertained that Gwen and Rhys had stumbled upon it in an alleyway, still bleeding. At least, if that's what could be considered blood. Ianto accompanied her to the autopsy bay to photograph it and then Ianto went to search for the creature in the alien database Tosh and Jack had been collaborating on before the incident with Grey.

Jack and Gwen studied the thing from the metal table in the middle of the stark room. Gwen prodded what she supposed was the midsection of the creature. It was a cross between a hairless rat and worm, with piranha teeth for good measure. It had died with its teeth bared and Rhys had named it, affectionately enough, "the mutant tapeworm." Gwen hadn't any idea whether or not it was harmless. She was hoping someone somewhere knew something about it. She missed Owen on days like this. A simple autopsy would have given them clues to its physiology at the very least.

"Any ideas, Jack? Relative of yours?"

Jack shook his head. He had nothing.

Clive yawned for the second time that afternoon. He wasn't prone to yawning. Sarah Jane decided to pry.

"Let me guess. Not been sleeping well, either?"

"How'd you know?"

"I've been up regularly enough myself. Been on your computer all night playing that game?"

"World of War quest? Not hardly. I've been doing some searching on the Web."

"What is it you're looking for, exactly?"

"Information...on Medusa. But a fat lot of good it does me."

"Why is that?"

"I think I'm looking for something that doesn't exist anymore."

Sarah Jane leaned in. "What do you see?"

"Just flashes. Of some sort of ceremony. There's a redhead and a man in a suit. And there's this other man. He's wearing a hood but he's holding a silver dagger. His name is Manger or something like that. But he keeps saying the words Medusa Cascade. Medusa was a Gorgon in Greek mythology. That's all I keep getting from the searches."

"Go home and catch a nap. Tell me if you think of anything important."

"Don't think I've just been watching too much telly?"

"You know the answer to that."

Sarah Jane's face turned grim after he left. She went to talk to the Doctor.

"Doctor, do you know of a place called the Medusa Cascade?"

"No. It is new on the intergalactic map. It is a reserve protected by the Shadow Proclamation Alliance of Apple, year 2. No Time Lord can survive the air."

"But it does exist?"

"Not for another century."

"Oh dear."

"I don't suppose I could come with you?" The wind whipped around Tom's coat as she exited over the door. Martha turned and looked directly at him, smiling.

"I don't think you can. The man who runs Torchwood Two is quite a hermit. I was lucky to get an interview with him. Especially considering I work with Unit. But once he heard I'd traveled with the Doctor, he became exceedingly interested."

"I hope it's nothing."

"You and I both agree on that. Well, I must be off."

Tom had a moment of relevance where he saw Martha for the first time. She was brave and lively, very young and very honest. Dangerously wise beyond her years. But she stood, barely suppressing the shaking she felt in the bottom of her soul. Something told Tom he wouldn't be seeing her again.

He reached out for her hand and then kissed her.

"Promise me you'll be careful."

"I can't promise that."

"I know. But humour me."

Martha's face caught his in the light. "I promise."


	3. Chapter 3

"I'd like to stop here on holiday." Donna stepped from the Tardis and into a dune. The wind was slightly chilly, but the crescendo of the waves danced upon her ears and the breeze tinkered in her earrings.

"Yes. This is one of the most alluring beaches on Earth. Met a family of Arkians once, posing as human of course. They were taking a holiday. Imagine that. Stopping at this little planet in almost the middle of nowhere just for the beach."

Donna shrugged. "Doesn't seem like a bad idea to me."

"No, wasn't a bad idea at all." The Doctor's voice tapered off as they moved across the sand.

"What exactly are we looking for? I don't see anyone, anything."

"That's just the point." The Doctor's voice was at an almost infuriatingly low level. He began to sweep his sonic screwdriver in every direction. The hum and blue light didn't even affect Donna anymore. They seemed like old companions now. Strange, how everything she did with him raised a sort of sentimentality in her mind.

The walked in silence until they reached the shadow of a small cliff when the Doctor made a very large exclamation and Donna went to hit him.

"Would you stop doing that?! What did you find?"

"Exactly what we've been looking for."

Donna squinted, barely recognizing it at first. They were like strands, beams of light caught in the wind. They meshed into a web, a moving cross-section of invisible light.

"What are we looking at?"

"A parallel world, Donna." There was a smug satisfaction to his voice and he broke out into a radiant smile that quickly fell. "The part I don't get is how this hasn't collapsed the world."

"What do you mean? You don't know?"

"Well, we closed that parallel universe during the battle of Canary Wharf. There is no reason why this should work without destroying both universes."

"Could this be the cause of all the lights beginning to go out?"

"Hello. No, I don't think so Donna." She gazed at him and his face turned in surprise. "Can't you see it?"

"See what?!"

"Someone is siphoning this energy. Two sources actually." His screwdriver passed over the web again, but now she saw two narrow streams the length of her fingernail, moving away. Binary code seemed to be drifting along happily through the two tunnels.

"What does it mean Doctor?"

"Nothing or everything." His cellular phone rang.

Jack inhaled the chips as Ianto talked. He licked the salt from his fingers, enjoying the way Ianto tried to control himself as he talked. There was a noticeable way in which he tried turning from the group. Even Rhys was beginning to get impatient.

"As I was saying before someone began lunch early, what we have here is an uncatalogued specimen. It's an extinct breed of Earth worm that seems to have revived itself."

"Where did it come from?"

"Originally, mount Vesuvius. What makes no sense is that this worm was not a carnivore."

"You mean this thing was an experiment?"

"Of sorts. Further analysis is pending once Martha returns some information to me."

"I feel better knowing Martha is on the case."

"Yes, well, she's very busy, apparently. And she told me to tell you that she was on her way to Scotland to visit the head of Torchwood Two."

Jack shook his head. "I wouldn't want to go there if I didn't have to."

"Why? What's wrong with the head of Torchwood Two?"

"Let's just say that he's been doing this for a long time. And not everyone is as charming as I am."

Sarah Jane rubbed her thumbs across her forehead. She was dizzyingly tired. Three days without sleep didn't take a tole on the Tardis, but she was sure that Earth wasn't being quite so kind. The only solace she got was from Clive, who kept her updated on his various searches for the Medusa Cascade. It worried Sarah to no end that John had no information for her. Something aloof to the last of the Time Lords made her very skittish.

Her phone rang and she sat as she answered in a nearby chair. "This is Sarah Jane Smith. How may I be of service?"

"Mrs. Smith? It's Clive. I have something. You'd best come to the library."

Sarah joined Clive among a stack of dusty records in the large, quiet building. He seemed out of place amongst the older people milling around them and browsing. She took the large book into her hands and they drifted to a table where several more books were waiting. He spoke in whispers and looked down at the books nervously every few seconds.

"What did you find?"

"I wasn't sure at first." The young man seemed to twitch with information, jumping at the slightest sound.

"Clive, whatever it is. It can't be that bad." She put her hand on his shoulder and he felt slightly reassured. He leafed through the book he had handed to her.

"I wasn't able to find anything on the Medusa Cascade, but I was able to track down information which I thought was rather irrelevant. It pointed to a Greek family that had a pair of household gods that I'd never heard before. The first time, I just scrapped the search engine and began again. The second and third times I began to see a pattern. By the fourth, I didn't think it was a coincidence."

"Clive, you have to tell me!" He handed her the photo of the family's mantle, marked in the book.

"Dear God." She ceased to breathe for a second.

"Is it important?"

"I think so Martha. Keep us updated."

They had gone beyond the idle chatter, like most of his companions. Martha and the Doctor had a unique relationship. He was grateful for a unique relationship with all of his companions. As the phone clicked off, he sort of looked through Donna. At the same time, Martha rubbed her forehead as she sat in the Unit jet she had borrowed for the afternoon.

Martha replayed the conversation through her mind. He wasn't surprised to hear about the Rift activity, which did little to console her. There wasn't much you could get over on the man. On the other hand, knowing that she was following a link to a parallel world which had a trajectory that may or may not have been headed for Scotland unnerved her.

The Doctor had been quick to uncover the link. He assumed that there was a connection in the activity. Of course, a parallel world would set the meters all twittering about. Martha only hoped it wasn't serious. But she knew when she was lying to herself. An attendant came by with drinks.

"Only water, thanks." She smiled uneasily. With the Doctor involved, she knew it was serious. This very well might be it.


	4. Chapter 4

"Well, I wouldn't like it either if you were bashing my head in while I was trying to drive!"

The Doctor stopped to take another breath while he panted, leaning against the rather silly-looking mallet he was aiming at the Tardis. "What do you mean?"

"Did you ever think to just ask the Tardis if she could get there?"

"What do you mean if?! There is no if! This is a time and space vortex machine, Donna!"

"I'm just saying that a couple of polite words might get us there easier is all."

"Donna, she doesn't want to go because it's more dangerous than most of our missions."

"How would she know?"

"Well, how would you feel about an uncharted star in a galaxy that's not supposed to be around yet? I mean, think of the interference and all that!"

"You're scared."

"I'm not scared!" The Doctor waves his arms around a bit in frustration.

"You're stalling. Just ask nicely. That's all I'm saying."

"Fine. We'll try it your way." The Doctor let the mallet fall to the ground and pushed his glasses back to the bridge of his nose. He took a second to inhale and then closed his eyes. He pleaded nicely with the Tardis and they began to shift and jolt in the red light.

"See? How hard was that?"

"Go and open the door, Donna. I want you to see the entire Cascade. It's brilliant."

Ianto was not fond of the autopsy bay these days. There was a smell that was coming from it. It was unidentified, thank God, but he was pretty sure he knew the culprit. They had begun showing up, almost as though they were being bred by raindrops.

The mutant tapeworms weren't living by the time they got to Cardiff, but no one could be sure where they came from. They weren't on any of the alien databases and Jack had no recollection of them whatsoever. It was a stalemate and a pile-up. Ianto was afraid to get rid of any though, just in case. So they piled into the autopsy bay, ankle high and on every surface.

They looked the same in those frozen instances, almost like they had perished defending themselves. Fangs bursting from mouths, tiny eyes open in surprise. The body, if you could call it that, taut. And Torchwood caught in the middle of it all. Gwen called for Ianto and he gratefully sifted through the mass graveyard back to the conference center. He used some wipes on the way to try and clean the stench on his hands.

He could hear Gwen and Jack shouting again. Gwen, of course, was being backed up by Rhys. Which was fair. Husbands were allowed to have a bias. But, any excuse to relieve himself of the autopsy bay was a happy one. Ianto noticed what they were yelling about. Both continued pointing at the screen in various ways and it remained blissfully indifferent, humming away.

"All I'm saying is that maybe we should follow the energy source! At least trace it!"

"To what, Gwen? To an alien planet or a ship with designs on world domination? Do you really want to start that war early?"

"Jack?"

"Ianto, will you tell her to listen to reason."

"Ianto, will you tell Jack that's he's being over-cautious."

"I think Ianto has something to say."

"Thank you Rhys. Has anyone noticed what's in the pattern?"

"What do you mean?" Ianto swiveled a monitor near himself and magnified the rays that were running through the Rift.

"They've attached themselves to two energy points here and here. One of them is dropping and one is taking energy from our Rift. By all accounts, things should be torn apart. But they aren't. And, hello, what's this?"

Jack joined Ianto and squinted. "I don't see it."

"Excuse me, gentlemen, see what?"

"Oh, but that's not so absurd."

"What is Rhys?"

"Well, right there." By now, all four were hovering and pointing at a computer screen in one little point of the Hub. Someone was bound to notice it eventually.

"Is that binary code?"

"Mr. Smith, I need you." Her voice was wrecked and near hysterical. Three nights without sleep and then this. She heard Luke calling and he joined her. He was more resilient, but was not sleeping either. The fanfare began.

"Oh, I wish you would stop with the fanfare. Tell me what you were doing in Pompeii!"

"I cannot tell you that, Sarah Jane."

"And why not?!"

"That is a past future time line irrelevancy."

"I don't think it's so irrelevant when it's causing me to lose sleep."

"Would you like a nice alien sleeping remedy?"

"Mr. Smith?"

"Yes, Luke."

"Are you aware of the human psychic link?"

"Sarah Jane Smith has no aptitude for the link."

"What link?"

"Are there rare cases when the link is activated?"

The console beeped for several seconds. Sarah Jane's lips pursed slightly. "Doctor?"

"You should not have been put through this."

"Put through what?"

"The House of Noble will fall. Cardiff energy output increasing. Medusa Cascade moving orbit. Transferring data."

"Doctor, What is it?"

"Cardiff activity. Torchwood."

Luke pushed her back intuitively from the room as the console began to shake and groan, bursting into flame at several points and shaking most of the house at earthquake levels.

The stench felt slightly unbearable. Well, for Martha, it wasn't even about bearable anymore, was it? Save for the absurdity of it all. The head of Unit's medical elite leaning behind a graffiti-ridden trash bin in a back alley spying on a limousine with alien binoculars she wasn't supposed to possess. Talk about dignity.

She had landed in Scotland about four hours ago and the search had commenced for Archie. Where Jack and his Cardiff crew were brash and well, American, about their operation; Archie and his "team" were about as noticed as a pack of pigeons on a rooftop in Manhattan.

It had been three hours ago that she had seen him and followed on a hunch. His name was Harold Saxon, a British expatriate trying to elect himself prime minister. Martha's eyes sharpened focus through the lens and watched the business deal. She was shaking with hunger but saw no reason to eat until he was in a secure location.

"That's not the way to find out what he's up to, love."

The scraggly man didn't smell like an ordinary homeless man. He wore two padded coats and had a large wool hat covering sparks of rusty hair. He hadn't properly shaved in a few days either and there were two holes were his left knee should have been on his jeans.

"And what would you suggest?" The tone inferred a bit of suspicion mixed with some intrigue and an air of slight indifference. Clearly, this man didn't seem to be important to her.

"Try the Indigo setting, Martha."

She moved a couple of dials around and then looked back at Harold. Surrounding him was the dye of the glowing colors: gold, blue, and silver. Her head titled, noticing the movement of his lips and hands. They were of an artistic fashion that didn't quite mesh with his personality, almost as if he had taught himself. She turned back towards the alley entrance where the man had been.

But Archie of Torchwood Two had vanished.


	5. Chapter 5

"It's beautiful, Doctor."

"It is, isn't it?" He was nearly mumbling again, but Donna couldn't bother being annoyed. The Cascade was unlike anything she had seen thus far. It was set in a dark corner of the universe, lit by its own brilliance.

The Cascade looked from far away, like the bust of Medusa's bones. In reality, it was several asteroid fields with a spatial water temperance supply for the defunct prison colony it had once been. The green glow from the non-toxic, to humans and humanoid creatures as of three hundred years ago, that is, gaseous explosions reflected from the waterfalls that bled from the creature's eyes.

"Doctor, do you see it?" Donna pointed out into space and jumped a bit, nearly falling with excitement.

"It can't be. But this isn't..." The Doctor snapped his fingers and ran back to the center command island.

"What is it?"

"What was it you said about the bees, Donna?"

"Well, the bees were disappearing. I told you that on Ood."

"Yes, but it wasn't important until now. The bees are trapped far from their own world."

"The bees are alien?!"

"Don't be daft. Just the African ones. They were transported to several African countries after their planet turned to stone."

"Turned to stone?"

"Couldn't produce the honey that kept them alive anymore. Had to relocate. Used the Adipose regime as symbiotic hosts for a short time, if I remember correctly."

"So this is all connected. But why?"

"No Donna. The question is, to whom? Time to meet Medusa."

"You mean we're going in there?!"

Ianto received the look from Gwen.

"We have to catalog them while Jack and Rhys do the recon Gwen."

"But couldn't we have..."

"No. Would you like me to do this on my own?" Ianto batted his eyelashes in a forlorn way.

"I suppose not. But if I ruin these boots..."

There was an explosion. It began in the autopsy bay, but the shivers were felt into South Wales. When Ianto and Gwen recovered from the shock, they'd missed several "what the hell is going on?" voice mails from Jack and Rhys, who were returning to the Hub.

The noise began, slowly, and built like a concerto. It was a steady hum.

"Gwen, what does that sound like to you?"

Gwen moved to a chair as Ianto lay still. She pulled herself up from the ground and lent him a hand.

"Don't know." She cocked her head, allowing her dark hair to move into a questioning position. "I suppose it's our duty to check it out. Hold on, Ianto."

"What?"

"You have something right...oh, never mind."

"Did you get it?"

"No, it moved."

"What?"

"Just a bee."

"Gwen, the Hub doesn't have any bees."

"Ianto, I'm afraid you're wrong. Very wrong about that."

"How would you know?"

Ianto gulped as he joined Gwen in the threshold to the autopsy bay.

"I say we make a hasty exit."

"Agreed."

"And people think there really are fish? How human."

"Now Luke, don't make fun."

"I wasn't making fun, it's a lark, really."

It had been an easy enough getaway, few questions. The house had burnt to the ground while Sarah Jane and Luke watched. Clive's mother had begrudged them the use of her kitchen for tea while they sorted plans for the impromptu holiday, conveniently planned for Cardiff. Sarah Jane didn't want to be shaken by the demise of her Doctor. Even though he was little more than a console, they were best friends, confidants, and so much more. It was the end of an era for her. But she did have Luke. She watched him while drinking tea from the corner of her eye while Luke's mother faked concern with their welfare.

"It's all material. Maybe the change of pace will be good for us."

The words resounded in her mind as she sat next to Luke. There had been general tears; that house had been a home for both of them. It had been a change of pace for the neighbor's kids. It had been solace and refuge and sanity. And now it was destroyed. Sarah Jane did not believe in flukes; she believed in anomalies. At this point, the anomaly was pointing to someone called Captain Jack. The talked on the ride through the Tube as it swiftly began.

"Luke, what do you wager Captain Jack has to do with this?"

"It's hard to say. But I don't suppose that he's the villain unless he's very clever. Do you think so?"

"No, I can't say that I think of villainy when I think of Captain Jack, but I do remember something about Torchwood..."

"They fight aliens. Clive showed me fan pages devoted to them and various members. Apparently the Cardiff branch is quite brash."

"I've got a few questions for them. That's for sure."

It was turning into a very surreal evening. This was almost as bad as the night she'd had a clone made from her. Almost. Although being chained to an electrical output circuit board in a nearly abandoned section of factory district in Glasgow near a converted coal mine won some sort of award. Possibly for longest description of death trap ever.

Martha believed that she had been watched tailing Mr. Saxon. That man was a dupe, a spy. She gritted her teeth as she tested the handcuffs yet again. Of course it had been a trap. The man had known her name. She had been so used to universal help and knowledge from having traveled with the Doctor that she hadn't even stopped to think.

They had caught her climbing at the very southern corner of the gate. They were wearing red Unit berets, but were not Unit. They didn't recognize the same protocol or stress codes. They didn't recognize her. Their faces were glossy, almost as if they were wearing human suits. But they weren't human, were they? Martha thought that it was in the realm of possibilities. Unfortunately for her, Harold Saxon was.

"My dear Ms. Jones, however did you find me? I apologize for the rudeness of my men. They do get a bit paranoid. Would you join me for dinner?"

She struggled against her chains and then the men who escorted her to dinner overlooking the abandoned factory. The table was set elegantly and they dined in the manager's office. Harold was dressed in an off-silver tie that set off the angry flashes in his eyes on every third syllable. He began to speak as he dug into the salad and she refused to touch her plate.

"Do you know what the trouble with you Londoners is? No vision. No vision at all."


	6. Chapter 6

"You've got to be kidding me." Donna snarled and struggled.

"I'm afraid, my dear, that I'm deadly serious."

The Doctor was standing there, held down by three men and a stranger brandishing a very odd sort of weapon. His face was a very shiny sort of silver, his body clothed in that uniform crimson robe. The only person she had left to interact with was Bilis Manger.

They'd been captured as they entered the caverns into Medusa's eyes. Actually, it was more along the lines of the Doctor and Donna had followed the robed men into danger.

"Doctor, if you let me die, I will never forgive you for this!" She looked straight into the part of his face she could see. The Doctor was hunched, nearly doubled in half and looking up into the face of the strange silver man. "And as far as you go..."

"My, you have an amazing capacity for words, don't you?"

"That I have."

"The House of Noble must fall for the darkness to be born."

"What are you talking about?"

"No wonder Rose could break holes through. He was shattering it in orbit. What is your game, Manger?"

"Why Doctor, is my friend losing his grip on you? Just think of Rose. You'll have Rose back." Bilis smiled in a tragically dark way. The Doctor moved back into his own thoughts. Donna's screaming could be heard by the guards posted at the doors of the Tardis.

Ianto felt as though he'd just been through a tremendous amount of sunburn. He'd only felt it once before, a weekend after his first year at university ended. A few of the boys from his class had dragged him along on this trip. They felt it was their duty to do such a thing. He had rolled his eyes, bought his share of supplies, and generally kept quiet along the way unless he was winning at cards, which he did as often as they played.

But this was no sunburn. It was surreal to watch a frantic Rhys and Jack move toward them with a speed which only Gwen was not surprised that they possessed. Rhys reached them first, panting. He moved toward Gwen but she hissed when his hands moved under her ears. He backed away quickly, Jack almost knocking him flat to the floor of the Millenium Centre.

Ianto watched this as he dabbed more of a small white cream onto his stings. Jack moved with a bit more caution towards Ianto. He arched an eyebrow and Jack responded with a nod of his own. Rhys watched the exchange and then broke into it.

"You okay, Ianto?"

"I've been better. Little more wounded then my pride. Which is normal, I suppose." He moved his legs into a crossed position and winced. "Might need a night off though for medical."

"We can take care of you. But we have better supplies in the autopsy bay then this." Jack's hand swept over to the small mound of brown bags from the local pharmacy.

"I don't think we'll be back in the Hub for awhile, Jack."

Ianto sighed and proceeded to relay the story of the bees that exploded from the cocoons of the mutant tapeworm bodies and the harrowing, yet slightly hilarious, story of Ianto and Gwen stumbling out the tourist entrance and entrapping the bees in lockdown. If they were still alive in twelve hours, Ianto figured that a plan would have unfolded by then.


	7. Chapter 7

The knife was hovering above Donna as she was tied to a large humming green thing in the midst of the giant cavern in an unknown self-sufficiently lit asteroid belt at the edge of the universe. Needless to say, she was dissatisfied with the state of things.

"Doctor! Doctor!" She turned back towards Bilis and glared at him seethingly. "Listen you religious freak! I may just be a temp, but I'll be ridden through if you think I'll let the likes of you take the universe and mold it into your image."

"I hardly see where you can not cooperate with my musings, Ms. Noble."

"Yeah, well, just untie me and we'll see how much I cooperate."

Bilis laughed in reply and she squirmed as he set the dagger above her, hovering inches from her lungs. The ropes were thick and the air was stale. She needed him. How was he so advanced and yet so entranced by that silver man holding his gaze? Donna held out hope, never breaking her concentration from the knife and the villain holding it. She used all of her fear within her to glare at him.

"Begin the chanting ceremony. Ms. Noble, of course, might want to know what ceremony this is." Bilis stared seriously for a moment, straightening his spine and yet not moving the knife an inch. "While I am not one much for prophecy, I do heartily believe in the darkness and it is so difficult to bring fanaticism to an entire race without finding a prophecy. And the people of Desiri were so eager to see the Darkness prophecy come into affect. So a few words and knife plunged deep into your lungs will provide the end."

"How do you know you have the right girl?"

"What?"

"Is there bloody cotton in your ears?! How. Do. You. Know?"

"There is no mistaking the House of Noble, fallen queen of Desiri."

She felt the twinge of the knife come down swiftly as the robed monks chanted all around her. She sucked in breath and waited for sickening popping noise of her deflating lungs. But Bilis turned a sheet whiter than he'd been. He looked older somehow. "But the prophecy..."

"Score one for the good guys!" She chirped at him. The knife has become submerged in her clothing. Donna Noble had moved the half inch necessary to both save her life and the whole of humanity. Now all she had to worry about was the Doctor. "So, let's talk about this Desiri, shall we?"

Bilis wasn't listening, he was moving away. He had begun to perspire, muttering about the prophecy. "Well? What is it then? I couldn't shut you up when you thought you were doing the work of prophecy." She intoned the last word to smart him. But he still wasn't paying attention. "Did someone turn up the heat in this room?"

Donna began to sweat and to hear chanting even though the robed monks had stopped. Her eyes widened as she noticed the knife was still settled as Bilis had swung it. It was logged in the glowing rock below. A tiny fissure began to crawl from the knife and it moved around her body until the fissure was an outline of her. The green glow intensified and she screamed as though her entire body were burning.

Jack grabbed Ianto as he moved to greet her, limping a little in his jog. "Where are you going?"

"To head off the tourists."

"Oh no you don't." Ianto glared at Jack just briefly as he removed Jack's arm from his elbow.

"What are you afraid of Jack? That I'm going to turn her into a Cyberwoman too?"

He jogged with a limp away from a stunned Jack and met Sarah Jane, with Luke by her side. "Hello. Construction repairs today at the tourist office in the Plass. So sorry but we are closed."

"Construction? It looks as though you've been under attack, young man. So sorry to disappoint, but I'm not a tourist. I'm looking for a Jack Harkness."

"And you would be?"

"Sarah Jane Smith. I traveled with the Doctor and have a few questions for him. This is my son, Luke."

Luke's face gave a small glimmer of recognition. "It's alright. We'll talk to Ianto Jones, organized front man of Torchwood Three. That's you. And that's Jack Harkness." Luke pointed to him, trying to help Rhys tend to Gwen's wound.

"I'm sorry, have we met?"

"No, but the Internet is full of information about your version of Torchwood. Not very quiet about matters, are you?"

"Luke!"

"No, the young man's right. Listen, we're having a bit of a technical difficult with repairs and I know of this terrific coffee shop right down the road I have some vouchers for. I'll take you there and answer any of your questions to the best of my ability."

"I think we'd much rather speak to Mr. Harkness ourselves."

"Technically, he's Captain Harkness. And I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

"And why not?"

"Because Ianto Jones knows everything."

"Precisely."

It was the second disturbingly familiar dinner Martha had spent candle-lit across from Harold Saxon eating fancy French soup and dining on hearty French sandwiches filled with a variety of delights.

"It seems as though our plans have moved up a tiny portion my dear."

"I see." She couldn't think of anything more appropriate to say. "And what exactly are those plans?"

"I'm astonished. I thought you would have understood by now." Martha shook her head. "Very well, then. You are part of the power source to begin the process of the running the Daleks. Having traveled with the Doctor gave your particles the ability to filter and fuse the energy from Bad Wolf Bay."

"So it was a trap then."

"And you fell right for it. Now, shall we begin? Don't worry my dear. This will hurt. I believe it will hurt very badly. But, after all, it is for a very good cause. And we must think of the cause before ourselves."


	8. Chapter 8

There was an explosion. Yes, that's it. An explosion. That's what happened. Donna righted herself after having stumbled for a few yards. Time itself seemed to have stop in the process. She watched with mild interest as the odd flames of explosion filled and then exited the cavern quite quickly. The only problem was that no one seemed to be noticing Donna. Not when Rose was in the room, breaking apart its very fabric.

"Bad Wolf."

"Bilis Manger. Seems you've been busy."

"I'm touched you've heard of me."

"Keeping tabs on time shifters with delusions of grandeur seems like a good idea, doesn't it?" She swept her blonde bangs from her forehead and tilted her body ever so slightly.

Donna tried speaking. "I'm sorry, but who the hell are you?" Donna's voice edged with worry. It wasn't every so often that you met someone who seemed to be bending reality around her and gave the general impression of knowing everything. Well, unless you knew the Doctor.

No one answered, even though Donna could not be dissuaded. Rose continued to lock eyes with Bilis. "And who was she then?"

"Last of the House of Noble. Thought dead, but merely transported to the Doctor's care. Not that it accomplished much for her in the end."

"And her servant?"

"Serving me. He saw the light of reason."

"So you reprogrammed Ford, then?"

"Mr. Prefect did not take much persuasion."

"Funny that. Androids with emotions created by a fallen colony of a planet long gone from the Medusa Cascade and you happen to find the only heir to that kingdom."

"Life works in mysterious ways, Ms. Tyler."

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you on this, Mr. Manger. But your time is up. You wanted the darkness and you will get it." Rose snapped her fingers and Bilis began to feel the heat of the Time Vortex. The protection of his special powers began to fade and Donna thought of that scene she had watched from Raiders of the Lost Ark with her grandfather.

Rose shrugged and moved to the metallic man in the robe. She touched his shoulder and whispered something in his ears. He began to change under her touch. He turned and seemed to be the only person in the room acknowledging Donna. Ford Prefect moved toward her, standing tall and beaming. "Just...look at you...I never thought in all my travels I'd see you again..."

Ianto's cell phone beeped, flashing red as they talked. Ianto was glad to have more of the mystery of the great Doctor cleared up. Seems as though he protected the Earth and occasionally found stellar companions from it. These he molded and changed into his weapons of love and knowledge. Of course, this kept him from becoming distanced. And Sarah Jane had done a lot of research that filled him in. The trouble was that he could not offer the same information.

"So you see, Mr. Jones, it's reasonable to assume a connection. Luke and I came to find the answer, that's all."

"It's a problem, I can see that. What I can't tell you is what we could do to help. I mean, the bees in our base are one thing, but that's not exclusive. We deal with an extraordinary amount of alien activity on a daily basis with the Rift."

"You have a Rift here?"

"You were standing over it. What did I say?"

Sarah Jane moved quickly, springing forth like a cat. "We must get back."

That was when Ianto's phone began flashing. "Agreed." His face rarely showed the disheveled feeling it was displaying. Only once did it slip, when the ground began to shake around them and she thought of Luke while Ianto thought of Jack and Gwen.

"The Rift is going crazy!" Ianto could hear Jack in his ear piece, trying to talk over a slightly panicked Rhys. It's not that he wasn't good in an emergency. Actually, it more or less was that.

"Ianto, can you get the remote readings?"

"Gwen's phone busted?"

"Unfortunately."

"Let me catch up to Mrs. Smith."

They weren't far. Sarah Jane and Ianto watched the Millennium Rock sway in an invisible breeze. It was silent, the city and its people still numb and mourning. No one would venture out for an earthquake, even at the crescendo of multiple car alarms.

"What's trapped in that Hub, Mr. Jones?"

"Right now, bees. Bees spread from the cocoons of unidentified aliens."

"What did these aliens look like?"

"Tapeworms with small arms and fangs."

"Did they look intelligent?"

"Is that an issue?"

"It could be. Were they African bees?"

"Yes, they were."

"You must release them!"

"Excuse me? They nearly attacked Gwen and I."

"How would you feel being cooped up in a cage as a symbiotic?"

"Not particularly chatty."

"Agreed. Especially because the bees aren't native to this planet."

Jack overhead them as he moved the team to better shelter. "But the Hub is in lock down. Pleasure to meet you ma'am. Seems we have a bit in common."

"It does seem that way, Captain. But I have one thing you haven't."

"And what's that, then?" Gwen leaned against Rhys for support as Sarah Jane began walking back to the Hub's invisible entrance.

"A sonic device."

Archie hated waiting. He listened to the girl's silent screaming as light began flashing about the place. The readings from Ford indicated the explosion on schedule and the lighting work that followed convinced Archie that he had to wait. He was decked in his fake Unit uniform, waiting. He'd go in without a weapon and clear the place. He'd secure Martha Jones. But he never made plans, hated them with abomination. Plans were always bad luck, as his father often said between bottles.

He gritted his teeth, barely imagining what she was going through. Martha, for her part, believed she deserved this when she could think straight. She hadn't been on board the Valiant, hadn't been through the pain or the torture. She had ran, she had told her stories, she had organized futile resistances to the drumming noise of the Master's private war. But she'd never been through pain like this.

It restricted her thoughts to the waving needles as something surged through her, something surreal and fraught with so much destructive power that it simply shouldn't have been. The Doctor would have explained it as "the darkness of the Void", whatever that was. The Darkness was here, running through Martha Jones like a conduit.

But that was nothing, nothing compared to the sounds of Saxon's laughter and subsequent demise as the first Dalek shrieked into existence.

"Exterminate the humans!"

"But I am your Master. I created you."

"You will be exterminated. You are not Dalek!"

She cried, not for them or for the unlimited burning and gnashing pain throughout her body. She cried for the whole of humanity. The Daleks had returned. She cursed that man that had known about the Indigo setting, the rage giving her a brief numbing respite from the shards of pain searing through her systems. Shards that would cut her to death, with no Doctor in sight and no single soul around except for the guards. Who clearly were not human.


	9. Chapter 9

"Doctor..." Rose didn't want to believe it. The travels and tragedies had all come full circle. Mickey dying during the Indigo project. Jackie's depression after Pete's second bout with cancer. The stars going out and the last words of the Prophecy from the Telshie clan of the Judoons. But here was the man with glorious hair who seemed to breathe existence with his sparkling eyes and sonic screwdriver.

He was still hunched, stuck in limbo and unaware. He seemed peaceful, immovable. Rose kissed him and found his forehead warm against hers. "Rose." His face turned a terrible shade of white and sunk inwards. "Oh no. If you are here."

"She died without ever knowing how special she was. But she died fighting. For you."

The Doctor turned himself, Donna seeing her crumpled form lying by the jewel for the first time. But how was this possible?!

"Not her Rose! She had so much vitality and life."

"Like I had?"

"Yes! Like you, well, maybe not exactly like you. I mean, you never argued with me. Well, when it was really...Oh Donna."

"Did you ever tell her?"

"Didn't have a chance too. Almost did once, at the Library."

"River song."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "How did you know that?"

"Seems like the Time Vortex doesn't just work for you, Doctor..."

"But how?"

"I don't know. All I know is that this universe will break apart if I stay too much longer. I have to go back."

"I won't sacrifice more life."

"That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean?"

"Bad Wolf Bay, Doctor. I'll explain on the way."

"But what about Donna? Her family..."

"Can't follow where she's gone. Shouldn't know the things she's seen. But they know how happy and confident you made her. Shouldn't that matter?"

"What should we do, then?"

"The Tardis has a room for her, just like it had for me. You can seal those rooms. Give her the life she deserves. Always traveling, always with you."

The Doctor smiled weakly. "Yes, I suppose so. But Rose, it is brilliant to see you again. I wish I could have told you..."

"Not now. Destroying fabrics remember?"

"Quite right then."

"And we think letting the bees out is a good idea?!"

"They won't be wreaking havoc everywhere, what was your name?"

"Rhys Williams."

"Yes, well, Mr. Williams, it seems to me that you should just ask them and they'll clear this entire mystery up."

"You never told me you spoke that language, mum."

"Yes, well, you can't travel with the Doctor without learning a thing or two about alien languages." Sarah Jane hesitated only momentarily and then held her sonic device towards the invisible lift that Ianto had tried to explain the mechanics of.

There was a funnel of organized and maddened African bees pouring forth from the Hub. The leader sensed the part of the Time Vortex that always clung to Sarah Jane stubbornly. They moved forward, swirling around Sarah Jane. Jack held Luke back with his arm, giving Sarah Jane a chance to explain the situation and to understand theirs. After several breathless minutes, the swarm moved away and back into the sky.

Sarah Jane sat on the ground, helped by Captain Harkness. "Did they say anything of value?"

"Yes, however, I don't think I'll have to explain where they came from. They were commandeered for a project in Scotland lead by Harold Saxon." Jack flinched as she continued. "They were taken and mutated for symbioses. The scientists needed something small that could run from the genes of Davros' ribs that they found in some ancient device."

"Jack, is she referring to the Daleks?"

Jack looked towards Ianto. "How did you know about that, Ianto?"

Ianto pointed to the sky. "Well, considering we're about to get obliterated by them, I'd say fair chance the two are related."

Archie ran when Martha's voice gave into the burning sensation pouring from her lungs and she finally screamed with her last terrified and scrambled breath.


	10. Chapter 10

"You, you have your mother's eyes." Every step towards Donna was another one she heard. It was the sound of metal scraping against metal. He looked human but was possibly an android. He grabbed for her arm wistfully and she recoiled.

"You don't know my mother! Don't touch me! Tell me what the hell is going on and why I'm dead!"

"Donna? Didn't the Doctor tell you?" Ford's voice was tinged with concern and he moved a step back in respect for the command of her voice.

"Tell me what?"

Ford shook his head. "Maybe it would be better to show you your heritage, your lineage. Come."

"But I'm a temp."

Ford turned back as he was leaving the cavern. "Then you must know the truth."

Donna followed at a pace, trying to organize her thoughts. She had watched the Doctor and Rose leave for Bad Wolf Bay. She had been taken for dead on the Medusa Cascade, a place where she was apparently royalty. Fat lot of good that did now. Her heels echoed down the hallways as she followed Ford. Each step made her more nervous than the laugh.

"We are here, Donna Noble."

"But where is here?"

Ford placed his hand over the scrapings in the wall and Donna squinted to see it in the shadows. The letters converged upon her, glowing a light yellow. "May God have mercy on our souls. What does that have to do with me?"

"That is the creed of the Medusa heir, Donna Noble. Only a true member of the royal family may gaze upon it. But there is one more proof yet and then you will believe. I will tell you the story, but first you must believe."

"I'm almost ready to believe anything now." Her voice grumbled low as they began an ascent through the large asteroid she had landed in.

"Luke! You must run! Find somewhere and hide!" Sarah Jane's voice screamed with worry and panic as they began to race about the sky.

"No. No, it's no use, Sarah Jane. They've returned and it's the end. We're all dead. I'm so sorry." Ianto found his place near Jack's arm, squeezing it and telling him he wouldn't go either. Gwen looked from beyond Rhys uncertain but with a level of understanding. Something that Jack feared could be the ruin of them all.

"But what are they?"

"We are the Daleks. We are the Lords and Masters of the Doctor's favorite children! We will Exterminate!"

"Well, that answers my question." Ianto wasn't quite as phased as his Captain by the large toasters with the blinking blue eye tracing the skies above him. Maybe Jack saw something he didn't. "But how do they relate to the dead worms in the Hub?"

"Rejects, Ianto. The Daleks are actually inside the machines. By themselves, they aren't fearsome, but their armor is nearly indestructible. The rejects we received through the Rift were mutated experiments. But how?"

"No more queries, humans!" One of the Daleks in the sweeping formations roaming the skies moved from the pack, descending upon Torchwood, Sarah Jane, and Luke. "You shall serve the Daleks."

"I'll tell you what I told that miserable Red Caan, you overgrown toaster! I will not serve you!" Jack growled as Sarah Jane tearfully put her hands on her head.

"Just don't hurt the child!"

"The male will be eliminated."

"No, Jack!"

"Ianto, don't!"

There was a flash of blue light as Ianto threw himself in front of Jack. Sarah Jane bit her lip as she watched the polite young man fall. Luke's first reaction was to run to catch Ianto. Sarah Jane just barely threw herself in front of the beam aimed for him. She fell inches from where Ianto was. Her last thought was about the color of his eyes and how happy, peaceful even, he looked suddenly struck down.

Jack's voice cracked as a tear raged down his cheek. "Bastards."

"All resistors shall be exterminated!"

"You are relieved, captain." Archie's weapon swung around, the butt splitting apart the head of the guards near the entrance to the electrical room. Martha herself could no longer hear anything but her own heartbeat, even above her own thoughts. Her tears even burned deep within, when they could even bother to make it to the surface.

"I'm so sorry, lass. I'm too late." His face was downcast as she saw him without really seeing him. The output was wavering and Daleks had been leaving the fleet twenty in a pack. The men hadn't been difficult to strike. It was though there had been a program in place. There had been no resistance and no fighting. Just a young girl giving her life for the cause of the darkness. Archie hated his job some days.

Martha ceased screaming, even silently. She thought of the Doctor and her wedding day. She thought of his toast to Tom and Jack and Ianto shocking one of the bridesmaids in a back room. She thought of dancing against a backdrop of stars like some fairy tale. But the fairy tale had ended. That was three members of her wedding party dead: Owen, Toshiko, and herself. What would they tell Tom?


	11. Chapter 11

The Doctor waved his screwdriver, determined to to find the beam again. It was stronger this time and almost visible to the naked eye. Pure pulses of blue light surged through it to the two locations, one unknown to the Doctor. Martha hadn't called though. That was a bad sign. The screwdriver met his lips as he and Rose observed it for just a moment.

"I'm going to seal this, Doctor."

"And how do you propose to do that?"

"I'm going to walk through it and seal it with the energy I possess."

The Doctor turned. "No. No more death today. I won't lose you again."

"I'm going to walk through. Last time you tried to stop me, you got a new body for it. Want to wager on what will happen this time?"

"Rose Tyler, you are the most exasperating companion in the entire universe."

"And you love me for it."

"How do you know that?"

Rose reached up and kissed his cheek before gazing deep into his eyes. "Don't come after me. I moved on the second before my heart literally almost broke into two. We just weren't meant to be." Rose was trying not to cry and failing miserably.

The Doctor reached for her hand as she began walking. "Never say that, Rose. Never think that or feel it. You changed me, made me better."

"And so did the others. Just like another will. Just like a million more will. I don't live forever. Don't break your heart on account of me."

"But I want to, I need to, I have to."

"Just to be curious, what was it you were going to say to me when you were harnessing the power of that star?"

"Don't make me say it."

"But I want to hear it."

"I was going to say Rose Tyler, I think you're brilliant."

"Liar."

He watched her walk into the blue and then watched the light crack and dissipate. " and I love you."

That deep lonely pit in his stomach fell a bit wider. She would always do the right thing, his Rose. Always. Now his task fell to telling Donna's grandfather what had really happened to her.

Jack felt as though the gravity of the universe were falling upon him, one centimeter at a time. Ianto was gone. All was lost. All was lost and the world was black. He didn't care that the eye was pointing at him. He just clenched his hands deeper into his pockets and waited to join him. The last person he wanted to love. "I'm sorry Gwen. I'm so very sorry."

"Captain! What is that?!"

Jack looked where Luke was pointing. It was a ball of blue fire headed in their direction. Great, he thought, the end of the world and an asteroid. Perfect. I wonder how long it will take to wake up this time. He gave the oncoming fireball a severely annoyed look.

"And what is that look for? Well, hello, I guess as long as you're looking at me."

Ford opened his mouth and then quickly closed it again, using his better judgment. "Well, that was easy Ford. I guess I can be royalty if I can guide the stars with merely a snap of my fingers."

"Just on the home colony towards certain destinations, Donna. Other gifts come with time."

"I think I could live like this."

"Exterminate!"

"No, I rather think not." The woman with long red hair snapped her fingers and with a grimace, caused the Dalek to bend in on itself. "Well, it's not a set of stairs made of pure stars or anything, but that will do."

Jack couldn't breathe properly. "Think you could do that again?"

"Why?"

Rhys found his voice. "Considering that there are possibly thousands more the world over."

"Well, alright. Since you asked nicely." Donna took a deep breath and then snapped her fingers several times. "Like being a cosmic fly swatter."

Jack fell to his knees. "I don't suppose you could..."

She looked into his lovely sad eyes and then down to the crumpled man in a suit on the ground and the lady to his right. She turned to Ford. "Is there a way?"

"Only for one."

"Then what's the good of having power if you can't heal anyone?!"

Jack stiffened. "Then do it for Sarah Jane."

"No Captain! I have K-9 and I'm nearly fifteen. I'll miss her but don't lose the one you love on her account."

Jack turned to Luke. "What if I gave you a place with us here at Torchwood?"

Luke smiled sadly. "She'd be happy to know I'm taken care of."

Ford took something from his pocket and pressed a small black button. The box unfurled into a large, dusty book. He turned a few pages and began to type. "That should do it then. He'll wake up in one and half hours and need two aspirin and a stiff drink."

"Thank you. And, not that I'm ungrateful, but who are you?"

"I'm Donna Noble. And I'm a dead queen's heir! What do you think of that?"

"One more location Donna."

"Five more minutes?"

Ford shook his head. "Important, Ms. Noble. Very important."

She nodded and looked back only once as the Torchwood team moved together back to the darkness of the Hub, waiting for Ianto to wake and giving Sarah Jane a place among the saviors of Earth. Jack mentally put ringing Martha to phone the Doctor onto his list of things to do.

But Martha wouldn't hear her phone ring again. As the wave ceased coming and the electricity from Bad Wolf Bay petered to nothingness, Archie was finally able to approach and relieve her from the machine. He had been a father and a grandfather once, even though he looked only around Captain Jack's age. His heart was heavy with the guilt and sorrow he felt for her. Martha Jones was so young.

"We are here."

"A fat load of good that did! I waited for you, for the signal!" His voice was hysterical and burdened with tears. "She's dead."

"Ford, can't you just..."

"No, Donna. One life a day. That's all."

"But why bring us here then? To show me what I can't do?"

"No, to show you that I always have a plan B. Martha Jones will never live again. But, Archie, she will be like you."

"How?" Archie received the watch with confusion. It was silver and decorated with tiny orange flowers. "How does this help?"

"Dampening field to stabilize her soul. She'll be a living ghost. Well, technically dead ghost I suppose. But she won't be gone."

Archie snapped the watch on her wrist and Ford gave a tug on Donna's wrist. "Back to the Cascade. We'd best get back and introduce you to the rest of your family."

"And my body?"

"Tomorrow."

"You mean I'm stuck like a ghost for the rest of the day?"

"You weigh nothing. On the bright side."

"I never did think of the bright side, did I?"

"You will now."

PS: I don't own Ford Prefect. He belongs to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, just borrowing him for a bit. Hope this matched up to the finale, even though not everyone got their happy ending. RTD, you beautiful bastard, you will be missed! We expect great things from you Moffat!


End file.
